Once Too Many
by bigprisc1
Summary: Acquaintances get acquainted. Now let the drama begin.
1. Chapter 1

Every Thursday was comfort day. That meant hanging out with your closest friends, in your most comfortable hang out, and did the things you love to do. And Thursdays were what Carmen loved the best. Ever since she adopted L.A as her new home, ever since she hooked up with Jenny, and then broken up with her, she had been hanging out with her and her friends.

It was a relatively easy break up, Carmen just skipped into town, and Jenny was in between relationships, and so, it didn't take long for these two to get together, nor did it take long for them to realize that they were better off as friends.

And they were the best of friends, well, until Jenny started sucking face with her new squeeze Nicki. Carmen wasn't jealous… well she was, but not in a relationship kind of way, it's just that, Jenny was never around anymore. And so now, Carmen hung out more with Jenny's friends, than with Jenny herself.

Not that Carmen minded, Jenny's friends were really cool people. Alice, Dana, Bette, Tina, Kit, Helena, they were all really nice to Carmen, and treated her like she was one of them. Even Shane, Jenny's supposed best friend - whom Carmen couldn't hold a normal conversation with without bickering - she's cool too.

And so, Carmen loved hanging out at the Planet that Kit owns on Thursdays, sipping coffee, and just enjoying the company that had come to be her family.

On this particular day though, Carmen was surprised that she was the only one at the table. She was glad she brought her laptop back from work, and could idly surf the web, though she was disappointed that no one bothered to show on her most cherished day.

"Baby girl, how are you!" Kit came over and gave Carmen a squeeze.

Carmen's face lit up, happy to finally see a familiar face. "Kit! I…"

Someone shouted from across the bar, and Kit responded instantly, "I'm coming, chill, will ya." She turned back to Carmen, with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry hun, we're installing a new system behind the bar, and it is messing up all my orders today. We'll catch up later. Promise!"

Kit gave Carmen a loud smooch on her temple, and ran back to her bar.

Carmen sighed, and she returned to checking her emails. Deciding that she might as well take the chance to catch up on some work, she settled into her seat with her coffee, and sighed as she tried to concentrate on her work.

"Hey."

Carmen looked up from her laptop, responding to the familiar nonchalant voice that belonged to one Shane McCutcheon.

"Yo. Where're the others?" Carmen asked.

Shane shrugged into the cushioned seat beside Carmen, "Helena's stuck in the office, Bette and Tina are in New York for Tina's Fashion showcase, and Alice called to say that she's keeping Dana company at her training."

"Right. Totally forgot about Tina's showcase. Hope it went well." Carmen nodded, she looked up from her laptop again only to see Shane eye-flirt with a new young waitress in the café. "Stop fucking all of Kit's new waitresses."

"What! What I do?" Shane protested weakly, not taking her eyes off Waitress number 11 since the time Carmen joined in on Comfort day.

"Whatever." Carmen rolled her eyes, "where's Jen?"

At this, Shane took her eyes off her new prey so that she could flash Carmen an incredulous look, "Are you serious? You are asking me this? You know she's shacked up with Nicki…"

"…With Nicki, right." Carmen finished Shane's sentence simultaneously. They shared a rare smile with each other, before realizing how out of character it was.

It wasn't like Carmen hated Shane. Far from it, Carmen thought Shane was really cool, not to mention kinda gorgeous. But everytime Carmen gets wind of a girl here, or another one there, she would get annoyed. It really had nothing to do with her. Really… so why did it piss her off so much?

They sat in relative comfort for the rest of the night, the first time they were ever alone together. And Carmen concluded, 'It felt good'. And Carmen decided that maybe Shane wasn't so annoying after all.

* * *

If there was one thing more boring than a snotty party full of rich businessmen and lawyer types, it was a snotty party for a rich 21 year old full of rich businessmen, lawyer types and young trust fund babies turned 21.

Carmen was stuck in a party that she never thought she would appear in. This was Helena's mother's new boyfriend's daughter's 21st birthday, and Helena wanted the gang to be there for support. Carmen did not want to turn up, but Alice and Dana dragged her here.

"Hey, if I'm going down, you're all going down with me," was the way Alice put it.

Right after arriving, however, Alice and Dana decided to hit the dance floor. And they never came back. Bette was clearly interested in talking to the businessmen type, she herself was procuring an art gallery, and knowing the who's who would be helpful.

Carmen snarled at another douche trying to impress her with a Rolex watch, but this particular one was persistent.

"Come on, just one dance. One dance, and maybe we can take a ride in my Lambi?" The douche said.

"I think she'd rather ride in a manlier car like my jeep, Lambis just don't. quite. cut. it. Thanks." Shane came up from behind Carmen and put her arms around Carmen's shoulder. "Hi, babe."

Carmen turned up to look at her rescurer, and was caught off-guard when Shane planted a kiss squarely on her lips. Though brief, Carmen couldn't help but savor how soft Shane's lips were on hers. She leaned in as Shane pulled away, eager to prolong the connection, and felt the hand on her shoulder squeeze tighter in surprise.

When finally, it felt a little too real, they broke apart and turned to the douche, an equally fake grin plastered on both their faces, wondering what had just happened between them, and hoping that the douche got the idea and leave.

But the douche had a dreamy look on his face, "Lesbians, nice! How 'bout the three of us skip out of this boring party."

Shane took a threatening step forward, "Look buddy, here's a more direct approach. Piss off."

The douche looked offended, then insulted, then with a little pout, turned and left.

"Can you believe the guy!" Carmen huffed.

Shane shrugged, "Hey, can't blame him for trying to hook a gorgeous girl." She said as she took a swig off her beer.

Carmen looked at Shane, unsure of how to react. Shane couldn't have meant that right? She studied Shane's face, hidden behind the bottle, but her expressions betrayed nothing. "You speak'n La'in or some'n?"

Shane just shrugged again, scanning the room at large.

"You are getting shots on my tab for this!" Carmen laughed.

Shane grinned at her, "Shots here are free, but thanks, I'll take a Buckshot, please."

Carmen raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. An idea struck her, and she turned to her counterpart mischievously.

"How bored are you?" She asked Shane.

Shane scanned the room, and leaned in closer to Carmen, "I'd rather sit in a room full of boring old men discuss linguistic semantics."

"Where do I sign up?"

"Sign up for what?" Shane asked, confused.

Carmen laughed, "For this linguistic semantics thing." Her statement drew laughter from Shane as well.

"I want to play a game." Carmen continued, after their fit of guffaws faded off. "Let's see how many shots we can do until the end of the party."

Without butting an eyelid, Shane said, "You're on!"

* * *

'"Really! Jenny really did that?" Carmen asked incredulously.

Shane nodded, taking a drag off her cigarette, "Yap, she knelt down and shoved her fingers up the fucker's butt when he turned around."

"That's sick! Cheers!" Carmen downed another shot.

The bored ladies found a great spot out in the patio – one of the patios – away from prying eyes. They ordered a whole variety of shots, and now they were playing a storytelling game.

"Your turn," Shane flicked her cigarette away and grabbed a shot glass.

Carmen slapped her fingers away, "You're not suppose to drink till I tell a story."

"Well, make it quick, I'm thirsty." Shane ceded with a glint in her eye.

"Okay… I'll be quick. Mm… I was about to fuck this girl once, and found out at the last hour that she had syphilis by some fucker she hooked up with."

Shane gasped, "You didn't!"

"Nope… Thank goodness. My best friend warned me right before I went home with her. Got cold feet, and ran."

Shane laughed and raised her shot glass. "Cheers!"

"You go!" Carmen said, a little too loud, for she had had too many drinks for the night.

"Okay… I'm secretly a fan of Britney Spears," Shane said, and when she saw the shock on Carmen's face, "It's true… I cannot deny it."

Carmen picks up two shots of whiskey from the table and proclaimed, "You win, no contest there!" She downed both glasses in quick succession.

As she brought her head back down to look at Shane, her world suddenly swirled, and an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach rose up to her lips…

"Uh oh…" Shane saw that Carmen was going to throw up, "No no no… you don't!"

Carmen raised her hand to Shane, to signal that she was fine, but she had trouble swallowing her spit. Plus, it didn't help that her head was spinning like crazy.

"You're coming with me!" Shane grabbed Carmen by the arms and stirred her into the house in a search of a bathroom.

The problem was, there were too many rooms, too many doors. They tried a few that were locked, and another few that led to more rooms. In the end, they stumbled into a relatively unused bedroom. By this time, Carmen was ready to let it all go.

"Damnit… there's no bathroom in here." Shane said, but before she could stir Carmen out of the room, Carmen tripped on her feet and lost her balance, falling right on Shane.

They staggered backwards, knocking into the wardrobe. They didn't expect to find a walk-in closet that connected to a bathroom.

"I guess we stumbled upon a bathroom." Carmen giggled, and regurgitated everything on the both of them.

Shane, pinned down under Carmen, took the brunt of the spew, but, being buzzed herself, she laughed at their pathetic state.

"Come… let's get this crap off you." Shane attempted to lift Carmen off her.

Carmen giggled uncontrollably, "You have more crap than I do on you…"

"We both have crap on us… come on."

Shane pushed Carmen up, and grabbed her before she felt over. Carmen seemed to have lost all her motor functions, and was jello-like in Shane's arms.

With great difficulty, Shane managed to stir Carmen into the adjoining bathroom, she left Carmen slummed on the toilet seat, and went out to check the damage.

* * *

There were surprisingly no spew on the carpet. Shane searched around for a towel and returned to the bathroom. She was about to tell Carmen the good news when what she saw caused her to draw in a sharp breath. Carmen had, in those short fleeting moments, diverse herself of her tank top. Sitting on the toilet seat, while playing with a toothbrush and making soft 'choo choo' sounds, she looked beautiful yet adorable, angelic yet dangerous.

Shane cleared her throat… sobering up from her semi-drunken state. Carmen was beautiful, her bronzed upper body, flanked by hearty ample bosom made her look more like a Greek Goddess.

Shane couldn't help but stare.

But Carmen had to break the moment by saying, in an almost baby-like voice, "I feel yucky all over."

Shane swallowed hard, "Come… Let's get you washed up."

"I'm sorry I threw up all over you…" Carmen whispered, pointing at the gross stain on Shane's shirt.

"It's okay… We'll clean you up first. Okay."

"You need to clean too…" Carmen giggled. She stood up shakily and made a move to remove Shane's shirt.

Shane jumped back from the touch. She felt an electric shock course through her veins, and was fighting the urge to throw caution into the wind. She forced herself to keep her eyes on Carmen's face, not wanting her libido to get the better of her if she looked down.

But even Carmen's face was mesmerizing. Shane didn't know if it was alcohol, or if she really thought Carmen was gorgeous. Why had she not notice Carmen's flawless complexion, strong prim nose and the deep brown eyes. Had it all been there from the start?

Carmen knew Shane was staring at her. She may be drunk, but she was conscious of her surroundings. Yes, the alcohol had ridden her of her inhibitions; she was after all topless in front of a mere acquaintance. But somehow, she felt safe with Shane. It was weird to say the least, she knew of Shane's reputation, and strongly disapproves of it. Carmen felt a sense of triumph, to know she was the object of Shane's desire right now. And she was not afraid to flaunt it.

Yes. It was the alcohol after all.

Carmen pushed herself up from her seat, and reached out to pull Shane's shirt off. She saw Shane squirmed away from her touch, saw how she had affected the taller woman, and felt empowered by it. And so she reached forward again, forcefully, to grab Shane's shirt.

"Carmen, I…" Shane choked. She didn't know what to say… because she wasn't sure what she would do if she said it…

"Okay…" Carmen suddenly let go of Shane's shirt and stepped back. "I'll wash." She gave Shane a lazy smile, and with one swift action, pulled her bottoms off, underwear and all.

"What're you do'in!" Shane almost died from the sight of the nude bronze goddess in front of her.

Carmen giggled again, delighted to see how ruffled up Shane was, "I'm going to hop into the shower."

She stepped into the tub and turned on the tap. Satisfied that the water from the shower was at the right temperature, Carmen stepped under the stream and allowed the water to wash all over her…

All in full view of a gapping Shane.

Carmen ran her fingers through her hair sensually, before sliding them down to her nape, her shoulder, her stomach, up to her breasts. She stopped, and turned back to Shane, a hazy look glinting her eyes.

"You ready to wash now?" She teased.

* * *

Immediately, Shane tugged and pulled at her clothes. Throwing all caution into the wind, whatever the consequences. She knew that right now, she wanted this more than anything in the world.

Carmen laughed exuberantly, watching as Shane struggled with her clothes. Shane's enthusiasm was liberating, and Carmen knew that she wanted Shane as much as Shane wanted her.

As soon as she was free of her clothes, Shane jumped into the shower and grabbed hold of Carmen, kissing her fervently and greedily.

Carmen had not realized how much she wanted to taste Shane, to have their tongues dance together in a ritual. She finally realized why every woman who ever had a piece of Shane would want to try to keep her forever.

Shane was heavenly.

* * *

Carmen was heavenly. There should be a law against Latinas. They are the spawn of Devil, sent to earth to tempt the weak-minded. And right now, Shane was ready to worship the devil.

Her hands went straight to the ample bosom, grabbing them in her hands and kneading them roughly, as if afraid she would wake from this dream any moment. Her lips kissed every part of Carmen it came into contact with, eager and willing.

Not one to be led, Carmen circled her arms around Shane and grabbed her butt, kneading her butt cheeks as Shane kneaded her breasts. She pushed Shane towards her, and their pelvis met in electrifying shockwaves.

Shane reluctantly let go of Carmen's breasts, but immediately circled her arms around Carmen and lifted her, slamming Carmen onto the tiles behind her. Roughly, she pulled Carmen's right leg up to circle her hips, and a hand settled heavily on the Latina's clit.

Carmen gasped, the sensations overwhelming her completely, she tried to find Shane's pubs to return the favor, but Shane had weaken her every senses, causing her to slump into Shane's arms, relishing in every stroke of Shane's talented fingers.

At last, when she felt her body tensed up, and then explode, she slight down onto the bathtub. The water still cascading down the both of them…

Shane panted heavily, settling herself down beside Carmen. She choked in her throat, unable to bring herself to turn to Carmen.

Before she knew it, Carmen shoved her roughly, and she half-laid on the marble, she tried to push herself up, but Carmen intertwined her fingers in Shane's and stilled her. Carmen forced Shane to look into her eyes, her mischievous and sexually hungry eyes.

Carmen lowered her head between Shane's legs, and returned the favor.

* * *

Carmen awoke, unsure of whether it was day or night. As she got accustomed to her surroundings, she realized that she was on a bed. The room was decorated in white, but it was dark, and Carmen was sure that it wasn't too long ago that she was in the shower.

And had incredible sex with Shane McCutcheon.

Shane? Where was she? Had she left?

Carmen rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to orientate herself. Was she dreaming the entire time? She moved, and was sure that it wasn't a dream, because her pelvis was sore. Her head hurt, and she felt a hangover coming.

More importantly, she wanted to know what had gotten into her, how could she allow herself to be one of Shane McCutcheon's conquests. Well, granted, she was the one who seduced Shane, almost pounced onto her. It was against her nature, her better judgment, and yes… she could blame it all on the alcohol.

But it wasn't just the alcohol, was it?

"You're awake?"

Carmen was jolted out of her daze, and saw that Shane had walked out of the closet, hanging up a wet tank top that Carmen recognized as hers. "Closet?"

"Walk-in closet, adjoining bath." Shane shrugged, a little disappointed that Carmen did not seem to remember.

Carmen felt her cheeks heat up, she remembered the bathroom well. She kept her face away from Shane, suddenly embarrassed by what she had done.

"We'll have to wait a little for the clothes to dry." Shane scratched her head, thinking, "Or I could go ask Helena for some clothes we can both go home in."

"It's okay, let's wait… I don't want to have to worry about dirtying Helena's thousand dollar shirts."

Shane chuckled, a tab more at ease with herself. And Carmen laughed, "Here, come lay down with me."

"Ah… I don't think that's a good id…"

"Shane, I'm not going to eat you up." Carmen sighed. Shane smirked at Carmen, and Carmen blushed even harder, "I'm not drunk anymore."

Shane shrugged, and settled into the couch by the window instead. She couldn't bring herself to be near Carmen, because she was afraid of what she might do. She no longer have the excuse of alcohol.

Carmen was glad that Shane did not lay with her even though she offered. She wasn't sure of what the close proximity would do to her senses. As it was, Shane in her black blazer, jeans, and no shirt or wife-beater, sitting by the moonlight, was driving her crazy as hell.

"So…." Shane started, unsure of what to say. "About…"

"Right…"

They said in uncomfortable silence, neither wanted to broach the subject…

Just then Carmen's cell phone rang, and she looked around for it. She was about to get off the bed when she realized that she was still completely naked. She gathered the sheets around her hurriedly, hoping that Shane didn't see her naked body.

Shane whistled at her, and she turned around, nearly caught off-guard when her cell came flying towards her. She caught it just in time, and mouthed a 'thank you'.

"Hey Alice?" Carmen answered the call just in time.

"Where the hell are you? We're leaving, and if you want a ride, you'll have to appear soon."

Carmen looked at Shane, then at the state she was in. "Erm… it's okay, I'll grab a cab later. I'm in the middle of something."

"Where the hell are you anyway? Are you getting laid or some'in?" Alice mused.

Carmen blushed, and was glad that Shane could not see it in the dim room. "Whatever Alice, talk to you later."

As soon as Carmen hung up, she shrugged at Shane. She was about to tell Shane what the conversation was about when Shane's phone rang.

"What do you want, Al?" Shane snarled into the phone.

"Are you still at the mansion?"

"Yes."

"Where are you? Are you fucking some blonde right now? Nevermind, don't answer that… Did you drive?"

Shane rolled her eyes, and Carmen covered her lips to stifle a laugh. She didn't have to hear the conversation to know what Alice was saying to Shane.

"I did drive, why?"

"I'm leaving, and Carmen is still somewhere lost in the mansion, if you see her, could you give her a ride?"

"I will…." Shane covered the mouth piece and whispered to Carmen, "She wants me to give you a ride."

"Okay. So I'll be going… Dane's tired as hell. Bye, 'lil one."

Shane rolled her eyes again for effect as she put away her cellphone.

"So…"

"So…"

The both of them said in unison. They looked away instantly. And Carmen wished she had a hole to crawl into.

"Let's just… forget about tonight..." Carmen started. She didn't see the anger flash across Shane's face…

"Okay… It's all the alcohol right?"


	2. Chapter 2

The day started out like any other day. There was nothing different. She was clocking in good time with her work, and by the looks of it, she would be ahead of schedule. Her sleaze ball of a boss was still making googly eyes at her, hoping to one day get into her pants and fulfil his fantasy of 'sleeping with a lesbian'. Even the smells of the room was the same. Her favorite essential oils – Rosemary and Sandalwood – burning in the background.

Yes, today was like every other day. Except it was Thursday. When once upon a time, she had looked forward to Thursdays, she now groaned at the thought of having to end the day there. She made excuses the past few weeks to skip the gathering at the Planet, but today… she had to be there. Kit had made sure of it.

She had no more excuses. "It's Jenny's birthday, and if you don't come to the party, I'll personally come down to your studio and drag you here!" Kit had screamed. And considering that it was her ex-girlfriend cum best friend's birthday, she couldn't give any ol' excuse not to turn up.

"Maybe a bus will come crashing through." Carmen mumbled to herself, looking around her studio for an excuse.

"Excuse me?" Pete, her assistant asked.

Carmen shook her head and smiled. She knew exactly why she was so reluctant to appear though. There was only one reason. It was a mistake from the start, and she still blamed it all on the alcohol.

With a sigh of despair, Carmen continued to fiddle with some knobs and sliders on the mixer.

 _"Let's just… forget about tonight…" She did say that. And Shane had replied with a shrug._

 _"Okay… It's all the alcohol right?"_

 _"Riiight." Why was she so unsure then? Was it really the alcohol?_

 _"No worries… I think your top's dry enough." Shane got up from the cushion and pulled the top off the clothes hanger, she threw it to Carmen still huddled in between the sheets. "I'll take you home. Meet you at the driveway."_

 _Shane walked out of the room, leaving a startled Carmen in her wake. They drove back to Carmen's place in silence, and since that fateful day, Carmen had not seen the gang._

She missed them, her only friends away from work, and it had been rather dull without their laughter. Deep down in her heart, she knew she missed Shane too, the very same person that annoyed the hell out of her. Yes, she missed Shane.

She couldn't see a future with Shane, there could not possibly be a happy ending with Shane. In all the time she had known the elusive player, she had never once seen the woman settle into a serious relationship. Hell, Shane wouldn't even commit to a second date with any of the girls she had slept with.

Nope. There was no way they could be together. Carmen was sure she made the right decision. Instead of getting into a relationship she cared about, and having her heart broken, she would rather pull the brakes on whatever there was and pretend it never happened.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? She cared for Shane, and cared enough to be thinking of a relationship with the woman. Carmen let out a laugh when she thought about how ridiculous this whole situation was, she had become one of the 'stupid girls' that Shane McCutcheon had conquered.

* * *

"Okay, what's going on with you?" Pete asked, a little annoyed that Carmen was not concentrating on work. "Boss?"

"What?" Carmen came out of her daze.

Pete rolled his eyes, "The mix?"

Carmen smiled apologetically, she was not in the best of mind to continue the work, and Carmen pride herself on giving her all, "Pete, let's call it a day."

"Really? I get the rest of the day off?" Pete grinned cheekily.

Carmen rolled her eyes and pushed Pete towards the door. "Yes… Take the day off and spend it with Fran. I'll pack up."

Without waiting for his boss to change her mind, Pete almost ran to the door, but he had the decency to poke his head back in and said, "Sure you don't need me?"

"I'm sure… just go." Carmen waved her assistant away.

She was still tidying up the work file when she heard a soft knock on the door. "Pete… Leave before I change my mind and make you do paperwork."

"Hi."

Carmen turned, startled that the person at the door was not Pete. It was Shane.

"What are you doing here?"

Shane shrugged. "I'm tasked to bring you to the party."

Carmen nodded knowingly, "Kit's idea?"

Shane flopped herself down onto one of the chairs. "Actually, it was Jenny's idea. She hasn't seen you in a while."

Carmen nodded again, and turned back to her computer, concentrating on saving her work file on her hard drive. She could feel Shane's gaze burn into the back of her head, and felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Finally, after an eternity of silence, Shane sighed, "Look, I know you are avoiding me. I came to tell you that you didn't have to do that."

"I'm not…" Carmen started, but when she turned back to see Shane's face, she turned many shades of pink that her bronzed skin couldn't hide. She quickly turned back to the screen again.

"Carmen…"

"Okay… I'm all done. We can go now." Carmen powered down her laptop and stood to pack her bags. "Could you wait at the reception area, while I pack?"

Shane eyed Carmen, and walked out of the door without a word.

* * *

As Carmen strolled out to the reception area, she spied her boss eyeballing Shane. Looking completely unaware, she continued to flip through her magazine and occasionally stopped at some dull article to read.

'She looked beautiful.' Carmen sighed.

The boss, spotting Carmen at the hallway, made his way towards her. "Going out? Finished the mix?"

"Nope… But I still have time." Carmen smirked at him. "Relax your balls, Gil."

Gil nodded in Shane's direction, "New girlfriend?" He said it too loudly, loud enough for Shane to look up from her magazine and put it away.

"No… Er…" Carmen stuttered.

Shane strutted up to her and put her arms around Carmen's shoulders. Her smile was so fake that Carmen had to stifle a giggle. "Introductions?"

"Er right… Shane, this is Gil… Gil this is…"

"Shane, I'm her girlfriend." Shane smiled at Gil, in such a threatening way that Carmen was sure that Gil got the message loud and clear.

Carmen smiled at Gil, trying hard to make sure it looked 'apologetic' and as Shane led her out of the office door, waved a goodbye to him.

"Thanks." Carmen said when they were well cleared of earshot, "How did you know…"

Shane smirked and opened the door of her jeep for Carmen, "You were telling Bette that one day…"

Carmen was surprised, "You heard? I thought you were making eyes at that waitress."

Shane looked at Carmen with a glint in her eye, but didn't say anything.

They sat in complete silence till they arrived at the club.

* * *

"Carmen Morales! Where have you been, stranger!" Alice shouted as soon as she saw Carmen and Shane walk through the door. "Haven't seen you since Helena's party."

Carmen looked around the Planet, and found only Alice sitting at the table. It was still early and Alice was the only one there. "Hello beautiful."

"Hold it there… Dana will get the wrong idea." Alice patted the seat next to hers, and Carmen gladly took it. "So… why are you avoiding us?"

"I'm not avoiding you.." Carmen protested.

"Well, that means you hooked up with someone at the party and uhauled! Spill!"

"I di…" Carmen started again, but decided not to continue when she caught the look Shane was giving.

"HAH!" Alice exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew it! Tell me tell me!"

Carmen rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna get a coffee… Shane?"

"Black."

Carmen nodded and left the table. As soon as she was gone, Alice attacked Shane, "So… did you see who she hooked up with?"

Alice scrutinized Shane's face and found it to be hiding something, "Oh my god, you did see who she shacked up with. Man, I'm dying of curiosity."

Shane turned her eyes up lazily at Alice, "Yes… I know who she hooked up with. And I also know that she isn't dating that woman." She grinned, "But I think all of that will change soon."

* * *

It was a good party. Jenny invited the entire world to celebrate with her, and at the moment she was sucking faces with her new girlfriend on the dance floor. Carmen was enjoying herself. This wasn't like Helena's boring party, and she didn't need for Shane to keep her company. Not that Shane had tried anything, Carmen thought with a frown, Shane hadn't even so much as approached her direction.

No… Shane was…. busy somewhere… out of sight. Carmen strained her neck to look for the elusive Shane, dreading, yet hoping, that Shane was in a corner, making out with some new girl from the block. She wanted evidence for herself, that she didn't mean anything. She needed proof, and needed to get rid of all her hopes once and for all. 'And stop acting like a blubbering idiot!'

But she couldn't find Shane, she looked and looked. She saw Jenny and Nicki in the middle of the dance floor, swaying slowly and sensually to the music. She saw Dana and Alice, sitting in the swing chair – Alice's legs thrown over Dana's – laughing and chatting with each other, occasionally stealing a couple of kisses. She saw that Bette had her arms around Tina's waist, and their were leaning in the corner of the club, lost in each other. She saw Helena, freed of her high-society manners, dancing wildly with a dyke by her side. She saw Kit yelling out orders, and she saw everyone else in the room having fun. And yet, she felt like she was missing something from her life.

A big bull dyke approached her, giving her simple little wink, "Hey ya, do you like your women strong?"

Carmen smiled politely at the bull dyke, but averted her eyes. The bull dyke did not get the hint. "So I see you looking the entire night. Looking… and now seeing… me."

"Er… No." Carmen came out bluntly to say, and for good measure, added a helpless shrug, "Sorry."

The bull dyke changed her tactic, and tried to chat Carmen up in another way, "I see that you are alone…"

"She's not alone," a voice came up from behind Carmen. Carmen smiled, keeping her eyes on the bull dyke.

Shane took the seat beside Carmen and leaned in close to the bull dyke, so close that the dyke could see the menace in her eyes. She lifted her arms up in surrender and left.

"Shane, my knight in shining armor. Always on hand to rescue me." Carmen laughed.

Shane leaned back into her seat and grinned. "I've got something for you." With that, she took out a rose from behind her, and handed it to Carmen.

"For me?" Carmen swallowed, staring in disbelief at Shane.

Shane took a huge swig off her drink, and jumped up, "Dance with me!" She held out a hand to Carmen who was so shocked she didn't take it. "Come on!"

"You don't dance." Carmen proclaimed as she took Shane's hand, she allowed Shane to lead her out into the dance floor.

Shane grinned, she pulled Carmen close to her, their bodies touching, sending shockwaves into Carmen's lower abdomen. "No I don't. But you do…"

They swayed with the music, a slow number at the moment. Carmen's lips so near Shane's ear, she had to resist kissing it. When it ended, Carmen tried to pull away, but Shane held her close.

"Shane, what's going on?"

"I just want to dance." Shane twirled Carmen around to avoid answering the question in full.

"Bullshit." Carmen spat.

With another turn, Shane brought her face an inch away from Carmen's, "Why are you so upset?"

Aghast, Carmen breathed out, "I'm not upset… I'm… I'm…"

In the middle of the dance floor, the music had changed into one of strong beats and techno, Shane still guided Carmen in a sway, "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not!"

"Carmen… I was looking… and looking… and now I'm seeing…. You."

"What are you saying?" Barely a whisper, so soft Shane could have swore she was hearing things…

"I'm saying… I like you."

"But you don't do relationships." Carmen turned her face away from Shane's, still swaying out of tempo to the music.

"There's always a first…"

"But you don't even like me…"

Shane threw her head back and laughed. And she laughed till Carmen got annoyed and tried to pull away again. "Ever notice how I'm always around?"

Carmen gasped. And Shane sealed her lips with a kiss.

A kiss that was once too many.


End file.
